New Wolk legislation could fund emergency response to rail accidents

In light of a proposal to expand shipments of crude oil by train through Benicia, Davis, the Capitol Corridor, and other heavily populated areas of the California, Sen. Lois Wolk has introduced a measure to provide funding for adequate local emergency response to accidents and spills involving rail transports of crude oil and other hazardous materials.

"California needs to keep in step with the significant increase in shipments of these dangerous materials in order to respond to the growing risk to California's citizens," stated Wolk, D-Davis. "Starting early next year, there are plans to run 100 train cars of crude oil a day through the heart of the Capitol Corridor to the Valero Refining Company in the city of Benicia, in my district. And, as things stand, local governments along these transport corridors don't have sufficient funding to protect their communities. This measure will help communities like those in my district prepare and respond to potential accidents or spills."

Senate Bill 506, which is being jointly authored by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, chairman of the Senate's Standing Committee on Environmental Quality, would levy a fee on railroad tank cars carrying crude oil and other hazardous materials in California to fund developing and maintaining an emergency response system to deal with accidents and spills involving these materials.

Several destructive crude oil rail accidents have taken place in the United States and Canada in recent years, including the July 2013 derailment of 72 tanker cars loaded with two million gallons of flammable crude oil in Lac-M?gantic, Canada, that killed 47 people and caused more than $1 billion in damages.

Oil shipments by train increased in California by more than 500 percent to 6.3 million barrels last year, and are expected to increase by up to 150 million barrels by 2016, according to a report released Tuesday by the California Public Utilities Commission, California Environmental Protection Agency, and other state agencies. The report recommended more state rail inspectors, emergency response program improvements and real-time information from railroads.

Under SB 506, railroad operators transporting hazardous materials by tank car in California will be required to register with the State Board of Equalization, which will collect the fees on a quarterly basis based on the number of tanks cars transporting hazardous materials.

Earlier this week, Wolk called on legislators to support a proposal to strengthen the state's railroad safety inspection force in light of the growing volume of crude oil shipments through heavily populated areas of California and numerous crude oil rail accidents in recent years.

The letter was sent in advance of the scheduled release of a draft Environmental Impact Report on a proposal to transport crude oil through the heart of the Capitol Corridor to the Valero Refining Company.

Valero Refining Co. of Benicia, according to a report in The Sacramento Bee, plans to run 100 train cars a day carrying crude oil through Sacramento on the Union Pacific rail line starting early next year.

The Bee based its information on Benicia city documents. Two 50-car crude oil trains will be assembled daily in the Roseville railyard, then run through Sacramento, West Sacramento and Davis to the refinery.

Earlier, Kirk Trost, an attorney and executive with the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, a coalition of six counties and 22 Sacramento-area cities, told The Bee he will ask the SACOG board this month to issue a regional statement of concern about the potential rail projects. Trost and other local officials say they want to push oil and railroad companies to be more open about their plans and to work more closely with local leaders on safety issues.